Honestly, Matteo kind of expected that they would need to wait two or three days; sure, each route had a train going away from and to one end of Sólstaður to the other at any given moment based on the maps, but it took a certain kind of luck for it to be running the same direction they needed it to. Then again, there were a few extra routes to the major cities—Byen Roken happened to be one of them, so as long as it got them there in a timely manner he wouldn’t really complain.

With tickets secured to leave for Byen Roken the next day, Hannah gave the siblings a curious look.

“It’s still pretty early,” she said. “We can walk around if you wanted to get souvenirs for your parents.”

“That would be nice,” Matteo replied, nodding.

Tara only murmured a half-agreement, albeit adding, “I would like to offer flowers at the memorial once we’re done.”

“That’s fair. Any places that might interest you?”

“I saw a bookstore somewhere,” Matteo noted. “Might be a nice place to look.”

Hannah led and gestured for them to follow. Matteo took the chance to really see what the area was like—the nearly-identical houses and the road you could only tell was there because so many people had walked in the snow. Just seeing the difference in the footprints—indication of how many people went where, and with who—was interesting to him.

Matteo took over leading once they made it to the store in question, having a clearer goal than Hannah in that regard. He glanced around until he found the music section, then headed in that direction. The other two followed without any protests.

“A normal reaction for Dakari tourists,” Hannah noted with a bit of humor.

“My mom might appreciate the foreign scores,” Matteo explained.

Tara perked up. “Adelinde might not have anything from here.”

”Exactly my thought!” Matteo replied, smiling at his sister before looking at Hannah to elaborate. “Adelinde has pretty much every score book available in Dakari, but she still likes getting new ones. I might as well bring back something for her.”

“You could probably afford to splurge,” Hannah mused. “And it’s a nice sentiment.”

Matteo turned into the aisle and scanned the shelves; Tara, somewhat enthusiastic for the first time in a while, took the other side. Hannah just watched with an amused look from the entrance.

“Dakari’s obsession with music always fascinated me,” Hannah admitted. “I assume Adelinde plays something?”

“Mainly the piano,” Matteo said, “But she used to play the violin, too. She taught me and Tara how to play a few different things; I’m the only one who still plays, though.”

“Because I know when I’m bad at something,” Tara muttered. “Unlike you, who’s terrible but keeps doing it anyway.”

Hannah chuckled as Matteo gave Tara a teasing glare she couldn’t even see.

“You’re really hung up on that, aren’t you?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Tara shrugged. “It makes Adelinde look bad if you say you’re good. That’s all.”

He gave up trying to show his feigned disappointment when she still seemed more interested in looking at the score books. He looked at Hannah.

“Rene picked up the guitar, too,” he said. “She doesn’t read sheet music well and only really plays when Adelinde asks her to, though.”

“Ren can appreciate music, but I don’t think she doesn’t think she’s good at making it,” Hannah mused with a certain kind of nostalgia. “I’m the same way—even living in Sólstaður for this long, I still want to go to Dakari concerts now and then. Homeland bias, I guess.”

“To be fair, we have pretty awesome artists,” Matteo said proudly. “Adelinde definitely being one of them; I daresay Tara is, too.”

“Now you’re just flattering,” Tara murmured.

Matteo turned towards her and smiled. “Think about it, Sis—it takes you one hour to do something so detailed anyone else would take four or five. Trust me.”

She glanced back just to show some appreciation, then both continued their search.

Honestly, he wouldn’t mind if things stayed this light. It made him forget how bad the situation really was. He would have lives in his hands as a king, sure, but not to this extent—he wouldn’t be one of the only people making those kinds of decisions.

He tried to shake off the thought. Finding something nice for Adelinde to apologize for making her worry for what could be weeks came first; stressing about the reason why they were gone for so long would come later. He didn’t have to think about it if they managed to prevent it, right?

——

Matteo and Tara each paid for half of the book they decided to get for Adelinde. There were actually quite a few she didn’t have—somehow Matteo managed to remember them—but carrying all of them wouldn’t be ideal. Never mind the fact they could be holding on to it for a while, since presenting it in person would be better than sending it alongside a letter.

They looked around for something to buy Rene and Matteo wanted something for Mark, but they were harder to shop for; Rene, on her part, would likely prefer that they come back safe than bearing apology gifts, and any knives Mark might be interested in ran a bit higher prices than they could justify when they would still need to buy supplies later on. Hannah even tried to look for something to give Lykke.

Matteo half-insisted they spent the rest of the day looking for things. After dinner, it came time to visit any shops that sold flowers and to offer them at the memorial. For better or worse, he insisted with even more force that Tara should be the one to lead them.

She honestly didn’t even really know what she was doing—she just felt like she should, and as such went along with whatever felt right in the situation. She would have preferred getting real flowers, but unfortunately they were in low supply and more than she could justify; Tara had to compromise.

Hannah still led them back to the memorial after Tara bought the amount of flowers that felt best and gathered her sketchbook from the inn. Once they made it there, she carried on in reverent silence—as a result, Matteo and Hannah stayed quiet as well.

First, she put two flowers near each stone—one on top, and one standing up in the snow. Then she stood in front of the stone with Chizuru’s name and searched through her drawings for anything that might please the girl and her family. She chose an older drawing with barely anything on it but a flower, tore it out of the book, and folded it up to be placed underneath the snow.

A slight but brief moment of tiredness proved that, if nothing else, Itzun must have approved of the action.

Tara took a few steps back so she could see all of them and offered a bow. Based on their shuffling, Matteo and Hannah must have as well.

She wanted to speak, so she tried to do so without either of them being able to hear.

“Rest well, little Chizuru. I hope you understand that I mean no disrespect—it just…isn’t what you thought it would be.”

In the silence that followed it…almost seemed like she got an answer. That satisfied her.

Tara turned back to the other two.

“We can head back now,” she said. “Make sure we have everything we need to for tomorrow morning.”

Matteo nodded. He understood her intentions; Hannah seemed to be moved mainly by sympathy.

Without much else being said, they went back to the inn for the night.